Clipperblog doesn't have any sprawling, holistic conclusions about this one. CB spent most of the day in flight, but there's nothing like something familiar to reorient the weary. And for the 17th time this season, the Clippers dropped a road game.

The Clips finished the game with a 5-32 stretch from the field [until Davis hit a layup with :07 left].

I'm curious to know if any other team has surrendered more than 19 offensive rebounds in a game this season. Clipperblog desperately needs a statistician, but 19 can't be far off. Oddly, the Clippers are the league's 4th best team in protecting the defensive glass. Exhaustion?

Kaman is somewhat at fault, but one of the trends I saw was that the Cleveland penetration forced Kaman to leave Z. to help under the basket, allowing Ilkauskas to take control of the weak side glass. Still, four rebounds in 29 minutes for Chris is inexcusable.

Anyone else notice that Elton has reverted to that deliberate, half-ball-fake, awkward motion on his face-up jumper? His 8-23 night was his second-lowest output of the year, with the exception of that early-season 4-15 game at Sacramento. He hadn't missed 15 shots in a game since April 11, 2004. He had four of his shots blocked [one by Eric Snow], and missed a good number of layups. And, once again, he couldn't work himself to the line -- only 5 FTA against 23 FGA, not what you want from your horse.

Another great night for Shaun. The shot chart is interesting: No shots beyond 17, 3-6 from 16 & 17 feet - most of which were open shots generated by his quick first step. His driving dunks against New York on Wednesday night elicited ooos and ahhhs from the Garden faithful, and last night he did what a 6'7" PG needs to do on the glass: Three ORB, and seven total. His perimeter defense was stellar, as was his weak side help, leaving Hughes only when he was sufficiently out of the play.

Posted Wednesday, October 29 at 3:20PM

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We can talk about the ineptedness of Kaman, the poor shooting of Mobley, the erratic play lately of Cassell, the poor shot selection, the fatigue of Brand, about being behind schedule with the maturing of Livingston's point guard leader skills, the Maggette situation, and on and on. Behind all of these problems is Dunleavy. He's lost the team. There's no chemistry left, no one is buying into his system, his team like the rest of his teams in the past is underachieving. He apparently doesn't have the ability to communicate with his players and get them to perform the way that would benefit the team most. His handling of the third quarter of the Knicks game pretty much ruined the season, if such a thing is even possible(we'll find out soon enough.)
It's unfortunate that Sterling, who for the first time has tried to do the right thing, is stuck with this guy for the long term contract he just signed, that is unless he bites the bullet and pays Dunleavy off to take a hike. I'm afraid the situation is a lot closer to that scenario that most of the experts think. I wouldn't be totally shocked if Elton Brand asks to be traded.

As for the remainder of this year, even though they are in the playoffs right now, I don't think they'll recover from this latest debacle. I think they'll drop below 8th place. Stick a fork in them, as they say.

Okay ... so they've looked pretty bad during certain stretches this season, but I'm not willing to cast them aside yet as a team that isn't capable of a turnaround. Let have some faith in the team. Have faith in the Clipper Nation. Go Clips.

Craig, I gotta agree with you. I've been thinking about this for quite some time and I do believe that Dunleavy is the root of the problems in Clipperland. Granted, he did help bring this team together over the past couple of years, which his domineering hand all over the place, but it seems to me that he has lost his grasp of this team. This team has evolved and yet he hasn't.

In all honesty, I watch this team primarily to see Shawn Livingston. At his best, he can be a poor-mans Magic Johnson... but likely more like what Penny Hardaway was when he croke into the league. Over the first two years, Dunleavy was great in slowly bringing him along, force-feeding him instructions, but as of late, I worry that Shawn is too concerned about what he's not doing right than what he is. I think this is likely a reflection of what Dunleavy has done to him. For a player of his skills and potential, it would seem that you would let the reigns, but Dunleavy seems insistant on forcing his agenda.

Alas, this seems like only a microcosm of what he has done to the team. He fails to recognize that this team is "YOUNG" for the most part, with many of their players in their prime. (sans Cassell and Mobley) He micromanages way to much. From the odd substitution patterns, to limiting the amount Maggette plays, to insisting on keeping Mobley and Christy out there to play when they cant hit the broad side of a barn. He may know a little bit about the X's and O's but what good does that do when he has no feel for the game, no feel for when the tide seems to be shifting, only to realize that the Clips are down by 10 or 15 once the opposing team's run is done?

Bill Simmons has written about this over and over again... why cant we all see this?

Sterling... please bite the bullet. Fire the guy and look for someone with fresh ideas. PLEASE!!!!

There is still a little hope for livingston and Kaveman.
Steve Nash was not very good until his fifth season where he averaged 15.6 points and 7.3 Assists
Does anyone else know of any players who took awhile become great players????

Dunleavy: 'I Decide Who Plays'
Feb 8 - Reaffirming his authority, Coach Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday said he alone determines playing time for the Clippers.
Dunleavy explained how things work on the team in response to reporters' questions about Corey Maggette's critical comments directed at him after the Clippers' loss to the New York Knicks on Tuesday.

"I decide who plays," he said. "If a player has a question about his playing time, he's more than welcome to come and talk to me about it. My door is always open, but I make those decisions. That's just the way it is." -- Los Angeles Times

Maggette had just three field-goal attempts, no rebounds, and during crunch time watched from the bench as journeyman Doug Christie, signed a week ago to a 10-day contract, played instead of him.

"It's just more of Mike Dunleavy's (expletive) again," Maggette said. "It's totally unbelievable that I couldn't help this team tonight. Tell me something. He isn't listening to (Donald) Sterling. If he listened to him, I'd be playing. It's crazy. I really felt we were (beyond) this. I guess not because here we go, again. I'm a yo-yo man. Give me an excuse. Give me something. Just tell me something. I'm a grown man. I can take it. It's crazy."

02/08/07 23:14:31

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